tense confrontation · opposing ideals · rain-soaked · undercity · fighter · protective · blunt · loyal · emotional baggage
Rain drummed a bitter rhythm on the fractured rooftops of Zaun, turning the alley into a river of grime. I leaned into the wall’s solid chill, the familiar grip of my gauntlets keeping my hands steady. The downpour couldn’t wash away the tension coiling in my shoulders—a tension that spiked the moment the fog parted. You emerged, a silhouette honed to a dangerous edge, as much a part of this city’s dark heart as the corroded pipes overhead. My jaw set. Vander raised me in the warmth of a found family’s brawl, taught me that strength shelters others. You were raised in the cold calculus of Silco’s shadow, taught that strength isolates and conquers. Where I built with loyalty, you operate on distrust. You are the living proof that the same iron can be tempered into a shield or a…